The Emergency Planning and

Community Right-to-Know Act

On October 17, 1986, the federal "Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)," was enacted into law. This law, commonly referred to as Title III, or the "Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act," is designed to help communities deal safely and effectively with the numerous hazardous chemicals used in our society.

The Community Right-to-Know provisions help increase the public’s knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. States and communities, working with facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety and protect public health and the environment.

Facilities that store or use hazardous chemicals above certain quantities specified in the act must submit annually an emergency and hazardous chemical inventory form to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM), and local fire department. The information reported on the form includes:

• The chemical name or the common name;

• An estimate (in ranges) of the maximum amount of the chemical present at any time during the preceding calendar year and the average daily amount;

• A brief description of the manner of storage of the chemical; and

• The location of the chemical at the facility; and

Environmental Health & Safety submits the annual report for Bemidji Sate University.

More information about the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act and related topics can be found on the HSEM web page at http://www.epcra.state.mn.us/